“Although I like that you’re not dumb or willing to do anything for my help. I think I’ll need to work for this and that appeals greatly.
Tasha swallowed again, harder, but still said nothing.
“Come…I mean, sit.” He smiled, obviously enjoying her embarrassment and discomfort as he gestured to his lap.
Tasha climbed onto him and allowed him to pull her closer and hold her tightly.
“I like being married.” His tone was serious, as was his expression and Tasha wondered if he was attempting to explain his suggestion for her being number seven.
“I got that.” She smiled, six former wives confirmed his desire to be married.
“I don’t really do casual, it’s not me. I’m a traditionalist really.”
She nodded. She truly believed that. If he didn’t, there probably wouldn’t be six former Mrs Mayburys, except for number one.
“This is just sex, James. Good sex, better than good. Great sex, but just sex.”
He toyed with her hair. “Is that a bad thing, great sex?”
“No. I like sex, a great deal.”
“I got that,” he said with amusement, repeating her comment to him. “I could get used to having you around.” He smiled a little more broadly.
She smiled back. “That would not be a good idea long term.”
He cocked his head to one side, deliberating his next move. “What makes you say that?”
“Because whilst we both like sex, great sex, you are a traditionalist and I am not.” She ran her fingers through his damp hair. “Did you cheat on your wives?” she asked curiously, hoping to strengthen her position against him being a suitable husband.
“Yes, technically, except for my first wife.”
His response oozed total honesty and Tasha was impressed by it. It would have been easy for him to lie. To tell her what she might have wanted to hear but he hadn’t done that. He’d told her the truth, potentially risking her annoyance, displeasure or disapproval.
“Right.” She was clueless what to say beyond that. What was there to say? He had only remained faithful to one of his six wives, the mother of his children.
“Does that shock you?”
Tasha considered his question. Did it shock her? Should it shock her? He’d told her about his marriages and she believed he’d given accurate accounts of their demise. Clearly, he was a man who liked his own way and when things didn’t work out that way he moved on quickly, with apparent ease so the idea of him cheating once his marriage was in trouble in no way shocked her, even if it probably should.
“Not that you cheated on five of them. I’m probably more shocked that there was one you were faithful to.”
Jim watched her, but said nothing. The truth was he had no idea what to say. He’d told her the truth about who and what he was and had no intention of apologising for it. Not because he wasn’t sorry about some of the choices he’d made, he was, but because he’d only ever been honest with Tasha. What was it about her that forced him to not only open up, but to do it freely and without question? This young and beautiful woman could really get under his skin without even trying.
Silence hung between them until Tasha explained her view point. “I’ve never properly known a married couple where the husband didn’t cheat, and sometimes the wife too, except my grandparents.”
“Is that why you’re so reluctant to marry? Even the man you admit to having loved?”
“Partly. I don’t associate marriage with happily ever after. I’d like to have my mind changed on that, but that’s not an invitation.” In spite of her smile, she spoke with a deadly seriousness.
“Shame.” His lips curled into a mischievous smirk while his mind began to ponder Tasha’s response to his question about her reluctance to marry the man she’d loved based on her experience of married couples.Partly. That’s what she’d said. So, if what she’d seen was part of the reason, what else was there?
“Did any of your wives cheat on you?” She reclaimed his attention.
“Not that I’m aware of, not like you mean. I told you, I don’t share. I wouldn’t tolerate that, ever.”
“So you’re jealous then?”
“Of course. If a woman is with me, I consider her wholly mine, heart, soul, mind and body, like you are right now.”
